'Guardians of the workforce': The role of HR amid AI transformation

Generative AI is here. And it is HR leaders' duty to ensure that organisations are ready to deal with the disruption that comes with it.

This is the message of Martian Logic CEO Anwar Khalil, who described HR leaders as the "guardians of the workforce."

"As HR, the guardians of the workforce, they need to anticipate this roaring wave that is coming down their way, about to hit their company, and they need to make sure the companies are prepared to absorb that shock properly," he told HRD.

According to Khalil, it is HR leaders' role to make sure the right people are hired, and people are upskilled amid the ongoing AI transformation.

"They need to create the right narrative at management meetings… create the urgency that the fact is, this is something we need to start to look into now, we need to start to think about right now.”

Addressing scepticism about generative AI

Khalil's message comes amid strong scepticism towards generative AI, following a recent report from Slack and Salesforce that revealed the uneven adoption of the technology in workplaces is leading to a trust gap in the workforce.

But he warned that scepticism will only make organisations miss out on the opportunity brought by generative AI, said Khalil, who will be speaking at the upcoming HRD National HR Summit on March 20 and 21.

"This is happening and it's going to make a big impact.”

"It's a matter of ‘Are you really prepared to listen and therefore take advantage of this and make it a competitive advantage for you?’, as opposed to having a negative impact and a drag that eventually reduces your competitiveness against your peers in the market, and therefore your value will diminish, and eventually you'll be at the risk of completely disappearing as a company."

The only way to navigate with generative AI, according to Khalil, is to just try it.

"The magnitude is unimaginable. You cannot compare it to anything else. You cannot compare it to the invention of the microwave, invention of the computer, the invention of the car. You cannot compare it," he said.

"That's why the only way to do it is to get in now and actually dig into it. You can't listen to anyone, you have to do it yourself to understand the potential, to understand how you can potentially use this and turn it into a competitive advantage. That is really the big message."

Khalil will go in detail on the role of HR amid generative AI transformation in the upcoming HRD National HR Summit on March 20 and 21. Register now here.